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I don't know if this is the right place to post this thread - but I'm sure it will be moved if not!!

I'm basically looking for some generic wargames terrain but don't know where the best place to go would be. Ideally I need it to be cheap due to lack of funds and the fact it wouldn't get all that much use anyway.

Mainly looking for bits that could be used across multiple systems (so woods, rocks, hills etc) and a few bits for a 40k setting.

Any help in directing me to a good site would be appreciated

If you're looking for cheap, then making it yourself is the cheapest route.
For hills, this is a pretty good tutorial.

http://www.amera.co.uk/
http://www.miniaturescenery.com/ProductsPage.asp

S&A scenics. Affordable and covers the basics of roads, rivers, hills and woods.

I've recently started a terrain commissions service, Scenic Forge. Here's a fantasy pack that I build to order for £110 including postage to UK:


Can be customised of course and I'm happy to expand it with more 40k esque features.

My facebook page is here.

Go to YouTube and type in wargames terrain, there is a wealth of information and tutorials.

We never had good prebuilt stuff or plastic kits so we used cardboard, sand, foamcore, bits, and found items to make ours.

Only since GW released all their plastic buildings and that stupid RoB thing that people have become obsessed with BUYING terrain as opposed to actually using the grey matter between their ears and getting creative in order to fill their tables with homemade goodness.

xraytango wrote:
Go to YouTube and type in wargames terrain, there is a wealth of information and tutorials.

We never had good prebuilt stuff or plastic kits so we used cardboard, sand, foamcore, bits, and found items to make ours.

Only since GW released all their plastic buildings and that stupid RoB thing that people have become obsessed with BUYING terrain as opposed to actually using the grey matter between their ears and getting creative in order to fill their tables with homemade goodness.

Or, you know, lack of time and skill with tools. Personally I'd always buy terrain if it wasn't so darn expensive to get barely enough for a single table, let alone extras (like if you were trying to stock a game shop). I don't have the time or inclination to build my own (beyond like a cardboard cutout painted green for a forest).

Lack of skill? Any skill can be learned, were you adept at painting miniatures before you had ever painted one, have your skills improved?

The only skills you need to build effective terrain you probably already have, it is not that far off from building a model; and if you are in this hobby than that is something you have experience with.

Tools: If you are in this hobby than you probably already have tools. A pair of scissors, an x-acto knife, a bit of white glue and off you go.

Time: Honestly it takes less time to knock together a ruined building than it does to scrape and assemble a squad of dudes.

Materials: You eat cereal, right? Or perhaps you have received a package in the mail. Do you have a scouring pad or a sponge that isn't all gunked up? Maybe you have some packages that have interesting shapes, or broken toys from your earlier years that have salvageable bits? Maybe a cleaned out soup can or paper towel tubes, these are not hard items to come by and with a bit of attention can be used to great effect.

Also gravel of varying sizes and sand can be found at your feet or even at the £1 shop.

Don't get hung up on what your hobby shop has/doesn't have, look in the school or office supplies section of your Tesco's or other supermarket. It is quite likely that you will find a plethora of tools and materials, one of which is the most useful "foamcard" not to be confused with foamboard, but sometimes also called that. It is very handy for more advanced techniques.

But if you are interested definitely check out the how-tos on ye olde YouTube, they are informative and inspirational.

I find the best source of terrain to be the dollar store. Between fake plastic plants, cheap craft paint, cork tiles, and small mdf artist canvas for bases, it has almost everything I need. The one thing I use from a hobby shop over and over again is a can of blended flock.

xraytango wrote:
Lack of skill? Any skill can be learned, were you adept at painting miniatures before you had ever painted one, have your skills improved?

The only skills you need to build effective terrain you probably already have, it is not that far off from building a model; and if you are in this hobby than that is something you have experience with.

Tools: If you are in this hobby than you probably already have tools. A pair of scissors, an x-acto knife, a bit of white glue and off you go.

Time: Honestly it takes less time to knock together a ruined building than it does to scrape and assemble a squad of dudes.

Materials: You eat cereal, right? Or perhaps you have received a package in the mail. Do you have a scouring pad or a sponge that isn't all gunked up? Maybe you have some packages that have interesting shapes, or broken toys from your earlier years that have salvageable bits? Maybe a cleaned out soup can or paper towel tubes, these are not hard items to come by and with a bit of attention can be used to great effect.

Also gravel of varying sizes and sand can be found at your feet or even at the £1 shop.

Don't get hung up on what your hobby shop has/doesn't have, look in the school or office supplies section of your Tesco's or other supermarket. It is quite likely that you will find a plethora of tools and materials, one of which is the most useful "foamcard" not to be confused with foamboard, but sometimes also called that. It is very handy for more advanced techniques.

But if you are interested definitely check out the how-tos on ye olde YouTube, they are informative and inspirational.

It's a hobby, not a job. If I'd rather buy terrain than build it, say because I don't enjoy the process or don't like my results, it doesn't do the hobby any harm. Home made terrain, store bought, it doesn't matter. The important part is that the table looks good and that the players enjoy themselves. Store bought terrain does much less damage to the hobby than close mindedness in the name of purism, and shaming people for getting more enjoyment out of paying for something that someone else likes doing themself.

OP- I like the miniature trees wal mart sells around Christmas for a buck or two, and pulp paper buildings. The pulp cardboard they use for packing electronics and for some beverage containers are cheap (or free!) and can be made to look like buildings with some dark grey spray paint and a hobby knife.

I build all my own - but I know plenty who buy all their terrain.

Given the budget constraints though, you will probably need to do a little of both. As Jim points out, this time of year provides no shortage of various things which are useful for terrain with minimal effort.

Stores (especially right before/after Christmas) slash the prices on their various little desk top decorations and miniature villages. You can pick those trees up for a song.

Various foam/cardboard packing inserts can also be repurposed with a little spot of paint and some creative basing. From rocky outcroppings to industrial locations - you just need to play with the shapes to see what comes to mind.

For $20-30 you can have yourself a pretty good selection to work with. After that - you can use the money saved to buy a couple of premade terrain items. These can be things that are beyond your skill or use special tools/materials you don't have ready access to.

If you are on a bit of a budget - not too confident in your scratch building skills, you also have things like the Pegasus Gothic sets. They are pretty cheap (though I have heard some people can't get a hold of them readily). Little bit gothic, but not so over powering that you can't use them for other games as well. Very versatile if you leave them as snap fit...little bit less so when glued up.

If you're up for building your own, but are unsure of places to look, check out terragenesis.co.uk

It's a whole forum dedicated to scale/modelling terrain.

www.ironhands.com
Go to the "necromundicon" section.

A great site for terrain made from junk and cheap toys. Check out the Gorkamorka mine section for some nice easy to make cliffs and rocks.

I don't know how available they are in the UK but the Pegaus kits are ace.

The Gothic building kit can easily make 2-3 medium sized building or be cut up for tons of low ruins. The chemical plant can dress up plasticard and other scratch builds.

http://www.thewarstore.com/IMEXPlatformerHexagon.html

Some of my stuff using them.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-518-890_Happy%20Acres.html

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
I don't know how available they are in the UK but the Pegaus kits are ace.

The Gothic building kit can easily make 2-3 medium sized building or be cut up for tons of low ruins. The chemical plant can dress up plasticard and other scratch builds.

http://www.thewarstore.com/IMEXPlatformerHexagon.html

Some of my stuff using them.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-518-890_Happy%20Acres.html

I remember seeing those before, did they ever get painted up. I love what you were doing with those and would like to see them finished.

I can also vouch for the Pegasus kits. Very easy to work with as is, or they're a great base for taking to the next level.
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2014/09/terrain-cathedral-de-la-pegasus.html


In the same vein, I've been working this month with the Dust Tactics "Warzone tenement" kits. A similar concept at a simlar price point (though not quite as large) in a more 20th century building. No pics of mine yet, but google will bring a few up.

Just given that GW introduced all of their plastic properties which foolish RoB point that folks have become obsessive about Purchasing surfaces as opposed to actually using the grey matter among their own ears and getting innovative to be able to fill their tables together with home made goodness.

gameaa wrote:
Just given that GW introduced all of their plastic properties which foolish RoB point that folks have become obsessive about Purchasing surfaces as opposed to actually using the grey matter among their own ears and getting innovative to be able to fill their tables together with home made goodness.

That has nothing to do with it, and quite frankly comes off a bit hostile and offensive. I'd gladly purchase inexpensive terrain rather than spend the time to make it myself, because it'll likely be better than what I can do and will be more readily available in the event I'm getting it in bulk.

WayneTheGame wrote:

gameaa wrote:
Just given that GW introduced all of their plastic properties which foolish RoB point that folks have become obsessive about Purchasing surfaces as opposed to actually using the grey matter among their own ears and getting innovative to be able to fill their tables together with home made goodness.

That has nothing to do with it, and quite frankly comes off a bit hostile and offensive. I'd gladly purchase inexpensive terrain rather than spend the time to make it myself, because it'll likely be better than what I can do and will be more readily available in the event I'm getting it in bulk.

You could actually make something out of that ramble??


IMO, the Realm of Battle board itself isn't bad. The GW building kits themselves, aren't bad. The terrain put out by Wyrd, by itself, isn't bad. If PP made terrain, it wouldn't be "bad" on its own.

There is a market for those who do not have "it" when it comes to scratch built terrain (it being the vision, skills, tools, time, etc. so again, not necessarily a bad thing, and I'm not knocking anyone who falls into this category) to purchase ready made, or ready to assemble terrain for whatever game they're wanting to play.

I'd go further and say the GW building kits are really great.
I own several and have thoroughly enjoyed building them both as is and kitbashing all sorts of stuff with them.
They are well crafted, fit well, paint up well, are modular, interchangable, relatively cheap and fun to work with.

 Ratius wrote:
I'd go further and say the GW building kits are really great.
I own several and have thoroughly enjoyed building them both as is and kitbashing all sorts of stuff with them.
They are well crafted, fit well, paint up well, are modular, interchangable, relatively cheap and fun to work with.

I only have the "big" city kit, and the one problem that I have is the glue setting. Doesn't matter what glue I use, I have to hold the joins twice as long for the buildings as ANY model (and that includes fiddly Tamiya 1:48 scale WW2 aircraft models) I've ever built.


Also, moving across the country was not kind to many of the ruins that I had built

Which kit is that? The shrine of the aquila one with the huge walls?

 Ratius wrote:
Which kit is that? The shrine of the aquila one with the huge walls?

I do have that one, but it has actually remained relatively intact (I've had to reglue the floors a couple times, but not the walls)

That's strange to hear. I've only built one model with GW cities of death walls, but they seem to bond really well with plastruct Plastic Weld. I don't think those things are ever coming apart now.

What glue(s) were you using?

Either way, the Dust and Pegasus kits build bigger buildings for less $ than the GW kits and they can be much more generic. With it's lack of techno-skullyness my Cathedral is as useable in grimdark 40k as in modern, historical or fantasy settings.

 Eilif wrote:


What glue(s) were you using?

Tamiya, or Testors liquid cement

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Eilif wrote:


What glue(s) were you using?

Tamiya, or Testors liquid cement

I do remember the Testors being just ok, Tamiya has always worked well for me though. Still, I buy Plastruct Plastic Weld whenever possible now. It's water thin, as cheap or cheaper than most other brands and bonds faster than any solvent glue I've ever used. Not surprising since it's main ingredient is MEK (it's acetone in Tamiya, and probably something else in Testors).

I've actually used straight MEK to build plastic kits. It's super cheap ($10 will buy you a quart at the hardware store) but it's so volatile that you sometimes have to apply a couple layers before the plastic is soft enough to bond because it evaporates so fast. Once you get the parts together though, the bonding is as fast as Plastruct.

 Eilif wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
I don't know how available they are in the UK but the Pegaus kits are ace.

The Gothic building kit can easily make 2-3 medium sized building or be cut up for tons of low ruins. The chemical plant can dress up plasticard and other scratch builds.

http://www.thewarstore.com/IMEXPlatformerHexagon.html

Some of my stuff using them.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-518-890_Happy%20Acres.html

I remember seeing those before, did they ever get painted up. I love what you were doing with those and would like to see them finished.

Afraid not, as with some many other things once I get done with the fun stuff (converting) I just have no time for the work stuff, painting. Not when there are so many other shinny things to build!

gameaa wrote:
Just given that GW introduced all of their plastic properties which foolish RoB point that folks have become obsessive about Purchasing surfaces as opposed to actually using the grey matter among their own ears and getting innovative to be able to fill their tables together with home made goodness.

This is the strangest form of wargaming elitism I've seen.

Terrain making is just like any other part of the hobby, if you don't like making it yourself, then explore other alternatives. There's several ways - print out plans for plasticard/cardstock, laser cut MDF (which is essentially the same thing in a more robust material), multipart HIPS, all the way to completely premade, pre painted and ready to throw on a table.

What makes it a really strange form of elitism is why is there a problem? Terrain is there to play on. You want it to be there. Unlike not painting miniatures, which doesn't imact the mechanics of the game, not having terrain significantly impacts it. So as long as the terrain is there, why is there any reason to get elitist about whether it's home made, printed in some manner then built of even completely pre-made?

As Jimsolo said, as long as both players enjoy playing on it, mission accomplished. If someone feels that they lack the skill/time/enthusiasm/etc to hand make it, and decides to actually buy terrain, that's entirely up to them. It's their money.

Personally, I am terrible at building terrain, and don't have the time or enthusiasm to learn. I'd rather spend that time working on my ever growing backlog. So I buy terrain. it tends to be laster cut terrain that I need to construct and paint, but it removes the DIY aspect, which is absolutely fine by me. People who have used my terrain have had no complaints.